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| Ishaku |
Indications have emerged that the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is planning to drop its governorship candidate in Taraba State, Darius Dickson Ishaku, owing to his perceived unpopularity and unacceptability by voters in the state. But, the candidate is not ready to go down without a fight.
This is as his camp has perfected plans to sway the stand of the party’s leadership by stage managing series of protests at the PDP National Headquarters in Abuja. Chief of Staff to the Acting Governor of the State, Aminu Jika, is believed to be the brain behind this move. He is alleged to have been recruiting and contacting various youths and interest groups both in Abuja and Taraba State for the protests billed to take place between Saturday and next week.
A chieftain of the party in Taraba State, Ahmed Isa, said that the aim of the planned protests is to deceive President Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP leadership as well as everyone else that Darius is a popular candidate who is widely accepted by the people of Taraba. Isa, who made this known in a statement issued in Jalingo, the state capital, warned the PDP national leadership not to be deceived by the chicanery of hired protesters.
He alleged in the statement that, “Jika has been running around using state funds to ensure PDP and Jonathan lose Taraba State; our people have severally rejected Ishaku, the PDP had sent an underground team to ascertain whether or not he is popular, but the reverse is the case. And should we go ahead with him, President Jonathan and PDP will lose state to the opposition party.
“We need a popular candidate that would emerge through a primary as stipulated by the electoral laws, no primary was held by the duly elected delegates. Other aspirants have gone to court to challenge him.
-DP
